Samsung Teams Up With Dana, GoPay to Simplify App-Based Payment

BY :HERMAN, UNGGUL WIRAWAN

OCTOBER 11, 2019

Jakarta. Samsung Electronics Indonesia, the local arm of the South Korean smartphone giant, has teamed up with e-wallet Dana and Gojek Indonesia's electronic payment service GoPay to provide a simpler payment app for Indonesian customers.

"Many smartphone owners use more than one e-wallet app. Often they have to go through many steps, at least five, to complete a transaction. Samsung Pay will cut through the process," Denny Galant, the head of IT and mobile marketing at Samsung Electronics Indonesia, said on Thursday.

Denny said Samsung Pay is not another e-money product, but an application in Samsung smartphones that provides fast access to various e-money services.

"Just swipe up from the home screen or even when the smartphone is locked. Users can choose a digital wallet to use as their source of funds. We'll also have shortcuts to automatic cameras that run straight to Samsung Pay," he said.

Denny quoted data from market research firm Kadence Indonesia that said 57 percent of smartphone owners in Indonesia use app- or card-based electronic money. Almost all of them use more than one e-money application. About 20 percent of digital wallet owners routinely use more than one app-based e-money service.

"We have received very positive responses, both from people who already have a Dana account and who have only tried Dana after they found out about Samsung Pay," Vincent said.

Budi Gandasoebrata, the managing director of GoPay, said he hoped Samsung Pay will provide more benefits for Indonesian customers.

"The collaboration with Samsung Pay will simplify the user experience in dealing with hundreds of thousands of our business partners," he said.

The announcement is another signpost of a new trend in Indonesia's electronic payment scene where many dominant players seek to collaborate instead of protecting their own turf and trying to go it alone.

E-money services have grown rapidly in the past three years in line with the growing popularity of online ride-hailing services and e-commerce.

Data from Bank Indonesia, the country's central bank, showed e-money transactions averaged Rp 450 billion ($31.8 million) in daily value in July, 4.5 times the average at the end of 2017.